Lightweight contender Sharif Bogere has suffered partial tear of his left Achilles tendon, forcing him to withdraw from a fight for a vacant world title against interim titleholder Richard Abril.

Bogere and Abril were due to meet on Nov. 24 on an HBO-televised tripleheader at Citizens Business Bank Arena in Ontario, Calif.

Golden Boy, Bogere's promoter, announced the injury on Monday, but said there was no evidence of a rupture in the tendon and that he is expected to be cleared to resume training in approximately four to six weeks.

Golden Boy said it is talking over options to reschedule the fight. Ralph Heredia, who co-manages Bogere with Jimmy Alex, told ESPN that they are hoping it will be rescheduled for January or February.

"Sharif has never really had injuries, so we're looking for him to have a quick recovery," Heredia said. "We want this fight."

Heredia said Bogere, who is from Uganda but lives in Las Vegas, began to feel "a little pinch" in his Achilles on Nov. 3 during a training run outside of Las Vegas.

"But Sharif, being the warrior he is, didn't say nothing," Heredia said. "Monday (Nov. 5) he sparred but he told (trainer) Kenny Adams he felt something and Kenny taped his ankle and he had a great sparring session. Everything was great but he felt a little something. So Wednesday he asked Kenny to tape his ankle again and he sparred again. Then the next thing, on Thursday, it was all swollen up and we said, 'Sharif, tell is the truth.' He said it had been bothering him but he didn't think he was serious. He wanted to train and really wanted to fight. We said he had to go get it checked out. It was swollen and after the MRI, the doctor put his foot in a boot."

The 24-year-old Bogere (23-0, 15 KO), nicknamed "The Lion," was a five-time African amateur champion whose ring entrance wearing a lion's head gained him notoriety. He scored his two most notable wins in 2011 in nationally televised fights, a 10-round decision against top-10 contender Raymundo Beltran and a third-round knockout of Francisco Contreras.

Abril (17-3-1, 8 KOs), 30, a native of Cuba living in Miami, is coming off a highly controversial split decision loss to former lightweight titleholder Brandon Rios in April in a fight most observers thought Abril clearly won.

The HBO card on Nov. 24 will be cut to a doubleheader. In the main event, interim welterweight titlist Robert Guerrero (30-1-1, 18 KOs) will face former titleholder Andre Berto (28-1, 22 KOs). The fight will be Berto's first fight since he tested positive for a steroid, causing him to be dropped from a June rematch with Victor Ortiz. In August, Berto was licensed by the California State Athletic Commission.